Property owners in south Delhi lament pause on leasehold-to-freehold conversion
A total of 264 such applications by owners in Chittaranjan Park, Lajpat Nagar and Defence Colony, among other areas, are pending with the L&DO, which comes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, since the authority paused the issuance of fresh no-objection certificates (NOCs) in December 2022. The L&DO has cited an impending revision in land rates as the reason for not issuing the NOCs, which are mandatory for the sale and registration of leasehold and freehold properties.
The L&DO revised land rates for both residential and commercial areas last in 2017. A fresh rate revision is awaited.
A freehold property ownership also gives the owner complete rights without any restrictions over the property's construction, modification, and transfer.
When reached for comment, the L&DO did not respond.
Many of the applicants The Hindu reached out to said the NOCs are essential to carry out urgently needed infrastructural revamps.
'House needs repair'
A property owner in Chittaranjan Park, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, 'Every year, rain causes a lot of waterlogging around my house, causing severe damage to the structure. I want to reconstruct it. Since 2023, I have visited L&DO's office more than 20 times, but I haven't yet got the NoC.'
A Defence Colony-based property agent, Pankaj Garg, said, 'I know several such families who are waiting to sell their properties. Many of them, who got these properties 30 to 40 years ago, are old now and can't manage without a lift.'
Another property agent, Himanshu Pahwa, said growing families find it difficult to adjust to the continually shrinking spaces. 'At least 15 families I know are waiting to sell these old properties and buy bigger spaces with more luxury in other parts of the NCR [National Capital Region].'
Meanwhile, some property dealers see a silver lining amid the long wait for NOCs. 'The delay is a good thing. It has slowed down new developments. This helps us crack deals quicker. Low inventory doesn't give buyers too many options,' said an agent on the condition of anonymity.
The L&DO has around 7% of the land in Delhi. The authority gave away these parcels on lease after Independence at nominal rates to establish residential areas. A total of 60,526 properties are under it, of which 34,905 have been converted to freehold.
An owner has to meet three conditions to get their property converted to freehold — there should be no unauthorised construction in the leased property, the property must not be put to any other use than the one specified in the lease deed, and it should be free 'from all kinds of encumbrances', including legal disputes and court injunctions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
10 hours ago
- The Hindu
Data bank of unused land for LIFE Mission on the cards
A data bank of unused land available with various government departments will soon be ready in Kozhikode district to support the speedy implementation of housing projects under the State government's Livelihood Inclusion and Financial Empowerment (LIFE) Mission. Heads of various local self-government bodies have said that they will be able to identify at least one or two acres of unused land in their respective areas and exchange the details with the Revenue department within a few weeks to support the initiative. 'As per the instructions we received, the District Collector will be able to take over such properties directly without any technical hurdles and include them in the data bank for future use. The only requirement is to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the original landholders concerned,' said a senior officer with the LIFE Mission. He added that grama panchayats and municipalities have already been asked to locate two acres and one acre of unused land, respectively, within their limits for this purpose. According to Revenue department sources, the majority of government departments have already reviewed their land records and identified unused plots that can be allocated for the housing initiative. Some departments have also submitted preliminary data, along with supporting land documents, to the authorities concerned for initial verification. 'Private landowners and corporate entities can also contribute to the initiative by donating unused land to the Revenue department to help fulfill the dream of the homeless. 'Manassode Ithiri Mannu' is one such special campaign launched by the government to encourage participation,' said an assistant engineer associated with the LIFE Mission projects. He added that generous people from various parts of the Kozhikode district have already donated over 90 cents of land to the authorities. As per the government records, most of the private landowners who voluntarily participated in the scheme in Kozhikode district are from panchayats such as Thalakkulathur, Kottur, Kunnamangalam, Villiappally, Koodaranhi, Perumanna, Chakkittappara, and Omassery. Officials from the Local Self-Government department said they expect more voluntary donors from other panchayats once the data bank is completed. In Kozhikode district, the LIFE Mission has successfully addressed the housing needs of 33,477 homeless people across three phases so far. Support from various government departments, State-level schemes, and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana was crucial to the timely completion of these projects. Officials said future projects will mainly focus on around 3,000 landless families identified as extremely poor across the State.
Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘Main conspirators' of Rs 100 crore Bokaro land scam arrested in Jharkhand
Jharkhand's Crime Investigation Department Saturday arrested two prime accused in an alleged Rs 100 crore Bokaro forest and revenue land scam that involved selling acres of government land using forged documents. The suspects have been identified as Izhar Hussain and Akhtar Hussain, who have been accused of illegally selling 103 acres of forest and revenue land in Bokaro in 2012. They have been sent to judicial custody. According to senior officials, this is the first time that the 'main conspirators' were arrested. 'Yes, they are the ones who allegedly created all the fake documents on the basis of which the land was supposed to be transferred to them,' Jharkhand DGP Anurag Gupta said confirming the arrests. 'This is quite an old issue, but for the first time, the people behind it have been arrested.' According to the CID, the two suspects had made the land over to their names illegally in 2012, but the mutation was cancelled in 2016. In 2018, the Jharkhand High Court stayed the DC's cancellation order but directed the parties to approach a civil court for a title suit. Meanwhile, Izhar and Akhtar 'fraudulently' got the land removed from the restricted land list, then the allegedly created a fake auction document dated 1933 and transferred the land's power of attorney to Patna businessman, who eventually 'sold' it to a company in which his wife is the director. Investigations allegedly revealed that a fake 1933 auction document and No Objection Certificates (NOCs) were allegedly used in the transaction. According to officials, two companies were involved in the alleged deal and that the land changed hands days after the money was transferred to the seller's account. An FIR was lodged in the case in 2024. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate, which is also probing the alleged scam, conducted searches at 16 locations across Jharkhand and Bihar in April. Among the places raided were some government offices as well as the premises of one of the two companies. The ED's 2022 probe had allegedly revealed that the forest land in Tetulia was wrongly recorded as barren land in 2013 and that fraudulent sales were executed based on that. Shubham Tigga hails from Chhattisgarh and studied journalism at the Asian College of Journalism. He previously reported in Chhattisgarh on Indigenous issues and is deeply interested in covering socio-political, human rights, and environmental issues in mainland and NE India. Presently based in Pune, he reports on civil aviation, other transport sectors, urban mobility, the gig economy, commercial matters, and workers' unions. You can reach out to him on LinkedIn ... Read More
Economic Times
19 hours ago
- Economic Times
Q1 earnings, FII activity among 7 factors that may impact D-Street action this week
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads 2. Domestic data: 3. Global events: 4. IPO action: 6. Technical factors: Markets drifted lower during the week and lost over a per cent, primarily pressured by the lingering uncertainty surrounding global tariffs and a disappointing start to the earnings the tone remained largely stable in the first three sessions, profit booking in the final sessions dragged the indices lower. Eventually, both the Nifty and Sensex settled near their weekly lows at 25,149.85 and 82,500.47, slipped below its crucial short-term moving average—the 20-day EMA—and has entered the previous consolidation range of 24,500–25,200. This breakdown has disrupted the positive bias, potentially leading to extended consolidation.'On the downside, the 24,500–24,900 zone will act as a key support area, while on the upside, 25,550 remains a critical hurdle in the event of a rebound, with major resistance at 25,750,' said Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research at Religare are the key factors that will likely impact the D-Street action next week:Looking ahead, the earnings season will be in full focus. A packed calendar includes results from HCL Tech JSW Steel , L&T Finance, and HDFC Bank , among the macroeconomic front, participants will closely track the WPI and CPI inflation data scheduled for July 14 for further cues on the uncertainty around potential tariff moves by the Trump administration continues to weigh on sentiment, but optimism has risen around an early trade deal between US-India.A busy IPO calendar with several prominent listings like Crizan Ltd and Glen Industries, and many more in the pipeline is likely to keep the Indian market trend in foreign institutional investor (FII) flows will also be closely monitored. On Friday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers at Rs 5,155.68 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers at Rs 3,482.95 Nifty continues to remain weak as the index slipped below the previous swing low on the hourly chart. Additionally, it has fallen below the 21 EMA on the daily timeframe. Momentum also remains weak in the short term, with the RSI in a negative crossover. However, after the recent decline, the index has approached the support of the 200-hourly moving average.'A move above 25,150-25,160 in the initial trading hour could trigger a rally towards 25,250 and 25,400. On the downside, support is placed at 25,090 and 24,900,' said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP traded weak by 0.11% at 85.73 as capital market weakness, along with higher Gold and Silver prices and weak global cues, weighed on sentiment. The rise in tariffs from the US on Brazil and Canada has added uncertainty, and markets will remain cautious until constructive trade talks the dollar index has shown recovery, rising from 96.50 to 97.75, which has added pressure on emerging market currencies. Rupee is expected to trade in a range of 85.25 to 86.20.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
